


We sang along to the start of forever

by merihn



Series: I wish we were all rose-coloured too [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex is still very gay, Caleb Covington Doesn't Exist, F/M, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Willie likes pretty people, i just really like poly ships?, idk guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merihn/pseuds/merihn
Summary: “So this is why you haven’t introduced me to your band. You just wanted to keep all these pretty people to yourself.” Willie winked at Julie and she giggled, flushing prettily.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie/Alex/Willie (Julie and the Phantoms
Series: I wish we were all rose-coloured too [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998832
Comments: 34
Kudos: 248





	We sang along to the start of forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yeoyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeoyou/gifts).



> Shoutout to [Noxnoctisanima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxnoctisanima) and [Nuuclears](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuuclears) for reading this through and helping with some beta-ish duties. 
> 
> So, this came about because [Yeoyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeoyou) said she wanted to see how the boys reacted to Willie and here we are. I almost talked myself out of writing this a few times because it’s frankly ridiculous. It was supposed to be a little ficlet, but then there were feelings and it got away from me. P.S. you have Yeo to thank for this. Yeo, you're the best and I'm glad you like it!
> 
> Also, they never explicitly labeled Willie so I thought it would be ok to make him a bit fluid. He likes pretty people, ok?
> 
> Title from Still Into You by Paramore.

It had been two days since the whole Situation, and Luke was watching Reggie and Julie sit across from him, making eyes at each other. He thought he’d feel more left out when they were paying attention to each other and not him, but he didn’t at all. He remembered how he’d felt when they’d walked in holding hands, the way his stomach had dropped at the thought that he’d lost what he hadn’t even admitted to wanting. He still couldn’t believe that it had turned out this way; he could have Julie, who brought something into his life (afterlife) that he hadn’t even known was missing, as well as Reggie, who had always meant more to him than he’d allowed himself to think about.

He’d found he actually liked watching them together. The way Julie’s eyes sparkled as she rolled them at Reggie’s jokes, her face alight with happiness; the way Reggie watched her with soft eyes and how he would brush her hair away from her face even when he didn’t need to. Sometimes Reggie would just reach out and twirl her hair around his fingers while she spoke, and her smile would soften and she would tilt her head toward him every time. 

He returned to the present and looked up at the faint whooshing noise that preceded ghostly arrivals and there was Alex and… an extremely cute ghost boy. If this was Willie, no wonder Alex had fallen head over heels the moment they’d met. Luke moved to sit beside Julie, pressing his shoulder to hers. 

Alex stepped forward and smiled at them. “Guys, this is Willie. Willie, this is Luke, Julie and Reggie.” He pointed at each of them in turn.

"Oh," said Willie, staring at Luke, "Ok, I get it now."

Luke looked at Reggie and Julie in confusion, then over to Alex. Alex laughed and slung his arm around Willie's neck, pulling him in close.

"Yeah." He nodded, pressing his lips together to stop himself grinning.

"What's going on?" Luke asked, bewildered. Why were they looking at him like that? What did Willie get? What had Alex been telling him? Julie patted his hand, and smiled at Alex. Even Reggie, usually the last to understand anything, laughed, and leaned across Julie to kiss Luke's cheek.

"Hi, I'm Willie." Willie walked over to Luke, holding out a fist. Luke bumped it, wishing someone would fill him in on the joke. Willie stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair, then tucked some wayward strands behind his ear. Luke stared at him, the movement had caused his cropped shirt to lift, right in front of Luke’s face, revealing his smooth brown belly. Luke’s own stomach flipped.

"Oh god," Alex groaned. Julie and Reggie broke down in fits of giggles and Luke pulled his gaze away from Willie’s midriff and stared at them all. 

"He's very pretty but he's not that smart," Julie said fondly, petting Luke's head. "It's amazing this happened at all."

"Hey - oh!" He looked at Willie again, finally catching on. Willie was flirting. Luke smiled sweetly and Willie visibly melted, his own smile highlighting his perfect cheekbones. 

“So this is why you haven’t introduced me to your band. You just wanted to keep all these pretty people to yourself.” Willie winked at Julie and she giggled, flushing prettily.

“Yes, Willie, that’s exactly why.” Alex rolled his eyes. Luke grinned at him and curled an arm around Julie’s shoulders.

"Ok, we have to go now." Alex grabbed Willie's hand and pulled him out of the garage.

Luke looked at Julie and Reggie, and they both looked at him with the same star-struck look on their faces. 

“Huh,” Reggie said. “When Alex finds a boyfriend, he really goes all out, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. I mean, wow,” Julie added.

“Do you think it would be just _too weird_ to ask Alex to bring him over for movie night?”

“Are you seriously asking if you can make a move on Alex’s boyfriend?” Julie asked indignantly.

“What - no!” Luke protested. 

“You totally were,” Reggie said with a smirk. 

“I’d just like to see more of him, is all,” Luke mumbled. Julie laughed and smacked his shoulder. 

“Aren’t we enough for you? I mean you literally _just_ got a boyfriend _and_ a girlfriend and now… what?”

“Come on, we all agree he’s gorgeous. I just want to look at him some more.”

“Plus, Alex will kill you if you try anything.” Reggie laughed. 

“The perks of already being dead.” Luke wiggled his eyebrows. “It’d be nice, kind of like a double date.”

Julie softened and Luke knew he had her.

***

“ _Did_ you put off introducing me to your band because they’re so pretty?” Willie asked Alex after they poofed away from the garage, only half joking.

“What? No.” Alex looked away, dropping Willie’s hand.

“Alex,” Willie grabbed Alex’s hands and pulled him in. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve been flirting with you since we first met. Meeting your friends wouldn’t have changed how I feel about you, and it hasn’t now.”

Alex sighed. “Maybe you can just slightly understand my position now that you’ve seen Luke.”

“Yes, he’s very pretty, you weren’t wrong. But why didn’t you say anything about Reggie and Julie?”

“Huh?” Alex frowned. 

“It somehow escaped your notice that they’re both gorgeous?”

“I mean, they’re my friends -”

“Luke’s your friend and you still managed to notice how pretty he is.”

“Yeah, but that’s Luke.” Alex shrugged, like it explained everything.

Willie raised an eyebrow.

“God, ok. Reggie is just… Reggie. He’s a goofball. And with Julie... you know, she’s a girl.”

“Yeah, I did notice she was female, amazingly enough. What does that have to do with anything?” Willie asked.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty gay.”

“Eh,” Willie waved a hand. “I guess I’m… pretty flexible. So, you just didn’t notice either of them because… one, you’re too gay, and two, you don’t find goofy people attractive?”

“No! I mean… I don’t know. I don’t think about them like that.” Alex waved his hands around.

Willie stared at him and he squirmed under Willie’s intense gaze.

“Ok, ok. It was already complicated enough, liking Luke. Then we broke up for the good of the band and it was just safer not to think about any of them as anything other than friends.” He looked at Willie with a pleading look in his eyes. “Why can’t we just go back to when it was just you and me and you didn’t know anything about my band?”

“Well for one you’re always talking about them, so I had to meet them sometime. And, I don’t know. There was a vibe.”

“A vibe.”

“Yeah. Like.” Willie exhaled loudly. “Like, they might have been… interested. In more than just your new boyfriend. I mean, Luke’s face said enough, but they all kept looking at you. I don’t know what they’re like usually, and I don’t even know them, but.”

“I think you’re just seeing what you want to see. We’re friends. Practically family at this point.”

“Family doesn’t usually look at each other that way. Definitely shouldn’t. Maybe you’ve been so focused on making sure you don’t lose them, you’ve been ignoring what’s there.”

“Yeah, but they’re all together now. They’re happy. They don’t need more complications. It was already tense enough when Julie found out that Reggie liked Luke too.”

“Maybe they wouldn’t mind another complication. They care about you, Alex. Maybe if they knew how you felt, they would be open to - to more.”

Alex groaned and dropped his head onto Willie’s shoulder. “Or they’ll just think I’ve gone off the deep end and I’ll lose them all.”

“Only one way to find out.” Willie stroked a hand over Alex’s bright hair.

***

Alex returned while they were still cuddling on the couch. Reggie was petting Julie’s hair, one leg slung over hers, and Luke was curled around her other side, their feet tangled together on the table in front of them. Luke looked up with a smile, patted the couch next to him and extricated himself from Julie. Alex dropped to sit next to him, but not too close. Luke huffed and dragged Alex in against him, wrapping his arm around Alex’s shoulders. Alex tensed for a moment, then leaned into him.

“Dude, you should invite Willie over for movie night tomorrow.”

Alex gave him a weird look. Luke winced, worried he was being too eager.

“Uh, ok.” Alex looked down at his hands as he twisted them in his lap. Luke dropped a hand on top of Alex’s.

“You alright?” he asked, low. Alex glanced at him, letting out a breath and dropping his shoulders. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did something happen with Willie?”

Alex blinked and Luke watched him think for a moment. “Nothing bad,” he said eventually.

“You’d tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn’t you? No matter what, I’ll listen.” Luke willed Alex to believe him. Alex smiled at him, relaxing more now, and Luke tugged him down a bit so he fit under Luke’s arm better.

***

“Hey,” Willie grabbed Alex’s hand and stopped him before he could walk into the garage. Alex had been practically vibrating the entire afternoon, drumming his fingers on any surface he could find. “It’s ok, breathe. We’re just hanging out.”

“Yeah,” Alex muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. “Just hanging out with my hot band and the guy who decided he had to complicate everything.”

Willie grinned. “Look, just forget all of that right now. I should have known better than to say any of that to you, but it’s out there now. Just - focus on me, ok? We’re just going to watch movies and cuddle.”

Alex sighed, and dropped his forehead onto Willie’s, clinging to him for a moment. “I just… what if they all want you but not me?” his voice was raw, as if the words had been dragged out of him. 

Willie closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over Alex’s hips. “That is impossible. Who wouldn’t want you? Alex, you’re perfect. Gorgeous, funny, _and_ I bet, an amazing drummer. Maybe you’ll actually let me see you play soon.” 

Alex smiled and used his thumb to tilt Willie’s head back, pressing a kiss to his mouth.

“Are you guys ever coming inside?” Reggie asked, shattering the moment.

Willie looked over at him, taking in his flushed cheeks, the way his eyes were caught on Alex’s mouth. He smiled and raised his eyebrows, and Reggie looked at him, the colour on his cheeks spreading down to his jaw. For a moment he was struck by how lucky he was that he’d run Alex down that day, and that none of his friends had any idea how to hide their feelings. He was also grateful for the proof to back up what he’d said to Alex. 

“Yes, Reginald.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Excuse me for enjoying just a moment of peace with my boyfriend before we have to spend a whole evening with you guys.”

Willie bit his lip and looked at Alex, a little giddy from hearing that word come out of Alex’s mouth. Alex smiled back at him, seemingly unaware of what he’d just said and how it made Willie feel, just like he was oblivious to how his bandmates felt about him. But even having only just met them, Willie had a feeling _they_ didn’t really know how they felt about Alex either.

They followed Reggie inside, where Julie and Luke were already snuggled up on the pull out couch.

“We could probably all fit on here if we squeezed,” Luke said, “but we thought you might like your own space.” He gestured to a large recliner.

Willie wished he could take Luke’s first offer but he knew Alex was on a razor’s edge and that would tip him over, so he sat on the recliner and pulled Alex onto his lap. Alex squirmed.

“Shouldn’t you sit on my lap? I’m bigger than you.”

“Mmm, you’re nice and warm,” Willie wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist and pressed his face against Alex’s back. He could hear the other three snickering, and turned his head to peek out at them. They were watching them with interest, giggling as Alex squirmed again, sliding off Willie’s legs and onto the recliner. He ended up kind of curled around Willie, as there was only enough room for his hip to touch the chair, his legs crossed over Willie’s. He wriggled around so he could sling his arm around Willie’s shoulders, and Willie shifted so he was tucked in toward Alex. He looked at the other three again - they were whispering to each other, then Luke kissed Julie gently, his hand curved tenderly around her jaw. 

“Are we all ready to watch the movie?” Reggie was also watching Luke and Julie. Willie made a sound of assent and dropped a kiss on Alex’s nose. Alex scrunched his face up and smiled.

***

Luke had absolutely no idea what movie was even playing. He couldn’t keep his eyes on the screen long enough to figure it out because he kept looking over at Julie and Reggie. All he could think about was biting Reggie’s bottom lip until he whimpered, or kissing Julie until they were both breathless. His eyes drifted to where Alex and Willie were curled up on the recliner, and he caught Willie looking away, back to the movie. He grinned to himself and looked back at the screen, completely lost as to what was even happening. He tried to focus, but that only worked for a few minutes before he was back to staring at the two beside him, who were completely enthralled.

He still couldn’t completely believe that they were both his, that he could just look at them as much as he wanted and no one would think it was weird (Ok, Alex would probably still think it was weird, but from the way he looked at Willie, he had no room to talk). He didn’t want to distract them from the movie, but he couldn’t stop staring at the way the light played on their faces, at the way Reggie would twitch and snuggle into Julie, and she would absently twine her fingers with his so he could tap across her knuckles. She seemed completely used to his restlessness, and he supposed their little study sessions had made her immune to the distraction of his constant movement.

He looked over at Alex and Willie again, and saw Willie staring back at him, not looking away this time. Luke licked his lips and gazed back, noting how Willie’s eyes flickered down to his mouth and back to his eyes. He couldn’t stop himself from smirking, just a little. 

He thought back to the day before, when Alex had returned from being with Willie, how he’d held himself stiff and away from Luke, the strange look he’d given him. What had happened with Willie that made him so uncomfortable? _Nothing bad_ , Alex had said when Luke had questioned him. But something that had made Alex uncomfortable with them, or at least Luke. He hoped he wasn’t feeling weird about how the three of them had gotten together. But he had Willie, so why would that worry him?

***

When the movie ended, Willie tilted Alex's head back and dipped his own to kiss him, taking his time to lick across the seam of his lips, dipping inside when Alex parted them. He tried not to think about the three on the couch and what they were doing, but his eyes went straight to them when he pulled back. They were all staring again, matching pink cheeks and wide eyes.

"You should see their faces right now," Willie murmured to Alex. Alex looked at him with a small frown. “They’re staring at us.”

“Probably because you’re making a spectacle with all this kissing,” Alex said, but his smile belied the harsh words. 

“Mmhmm. Sure.” 

“This is ridiculous. Luke flirting with you yesterday went to your head and you’ve gone crazy. Luke would flirt with a brick wall so I don’t know why you think you’re special.” Alex paused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, you’re very special. To me.”

Willie smiled. “I know. You’re just trying to justify all of this away, but it’s not going to work because I’m right.”

Alex rolled his eyes, and kissed Willie again.

***

After the movie Alex had left with Willie, saying something about taking him home. Luke wondered where home was for Willie, being that he was a ghost. He’d have to ask Alex at some point.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how Willie had kissed Alex, the way Alex surrendered so completely to him. The way they fitted together so easily. He’d only dated Alex for a few months when they were alive and Alex had never kissed him like that. He wondered how that felt, then shook himself. It was ridiculous to think about it when he had Julie and Reggie right there. 

Luke looked at them, talking quietly about the movie, and snuggled into Julie, pressing his face into her hair. It smelled of flowers and spice and he relaxed as he breathed it in.

***

Willie walked into the garage to find Alex sitting at his drums, Reggie draped over his back while he played, a sweetly content smile on his face. Willie stood at the doors and watched them for a while, the way Alex compensated for Reggie’s weight bowing him over, how Reggie looked practically boneless, trusting Alex not to let him fall. Only his legs were stiff, stretched out behind him, pushing him up against Alex.

“Hey,” Willie said as quietly as he could so as not to startle them. Alex looked up, his smile widening as he caught sight of Willie.

“Willie!” Reggie exclaimed, scrambling upright. Willie caught the brief frown that crossed Alex’s face as Reggie’s weight disappeared and smiled to himself. 

“Hey, Reggie.” Willie walked over to them and bumped fists with Reggie, then leaned down to kiss Alex’s cheek. 

“I’m just going to go see what Ray’s up to,” Reggie said before disappearing. Alex laughed and shook his head.

“He’s obsessed with Julie’s dad. He follows him around all the time, even though Ray can’t see him.” Alex explained, standing to pull Willie into his arms.

“So,” Willie started. “Reggie’s a goofball, huh?” Alex stiffened against him and pulled back. 

“Not this again,” Alex groaned. “Are you going to analyse every interaction we have?”

“What’s there to analyse? The way you just let him hang all over you, even when it clearly obstructed your drumming? That dopey smile on your face that disappeared the moment he got up?” Willie said innocently. Alex frowned. 

“Reggie’s just like that, you’ll see. You learn to let him do that stuff because it’s not worth the pouting when you push him away.”

“Mhmm.” Willie hummed pointedly. Alex huffed and gave him a little shove. 

“You’re going to give me a complex. Especially when it turns out that they’re just happy that I finally got a boyfriend and that they’re content in their little three-way.”

“I guess you didn’t catch Reggie’s look yesterday when he found us kissing outside.”

“Huh?”

“Alex, he was staring at your mouth, and blushed very prettily when I gave him the eyebrows.”

“He was probably just embarrassed that he saw us like that.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

“I will! It’s the only way to stay sane.”

“So where’s Luke and Julie?” Willie tried changing tack. 

“Julie goes to school, remember? And I think Luke’s visiting his parents.”

“He visits his parents? Why?”

“He likes to make himself miserable? He ran away from home a few months before we died and never made up with them. I think he likes knowing they haven’t forgotten him. I don’t see the appeal myself.”

“You haven’t gone to see your parents?”

“Why would I want to? They didn’t accept me for who I am, so what’s the point? It was miserable living with them after they found out.”

Willie gathered Alex into his arms and held him tightly. It took longer than he’d expected for Alex to relax into his embrace. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. But I understand.”

“Did your parents, um, know?”

“I hadn’t really labelled myself before I died and then it didn’t matter anymore.”

Alex hugged him tightly. They hadn’t really talked about Willie’s life or how he died other than the little comment he’d made when they met. Willie frankly didn’t really think it was all that important since it had happened over 40 years ago. The years before he had met Alex had all sort of blended together and it barely seemed like any time had passed other than the fact that technology kept advancing and fashions kept changing. 

He’d never really thought about the fact that he’d died so long ago and what that had meant to him. He’d always avoided thinking about the people he’d left behind, and just tried to enjoy his afterlife. Now he wondered if he’d missed out on something, some kind of closure. Maybe even his unfinished business.

***

Luke teleported into the Molina house when he couldn’t stand to be at his parents house for a moment longer. Reggie was sitting as usual with Ray while Ray did some work on his laptop. Reggie took one look at Luke’s face and hurried over to him, pulling him into a hug. Luke clung to him and tried to breathe without it catching in his throat. He thought he’d cried himself out at his parent’s house, but he could feel another wave approaching. Reggie must have felt it too because he pulled Luke up the stairs to Julie’s room, his arm secure around Luke’s shoulders as they made their way up. Reggie pushed him onto the bed then crawled after him, manhandling Luke into position as the little spoon.

Luke sighed as Reggie settled behind him, fitting their bodies together. The tears started without warning, and Reggie stroked his hair as sobs wracked his body. 

He had no idea how long he cried for, just that Reggie stayed with him the whole time, steadily combing his hair with gentle fingers, grounding him in place. His breathing slowed eventually and the tears dried on his cheeks. Reggie didn’t move as he calmed, just continued to brush his hair and hold him close, until Luke turned in his arms and cuddled into him, pressing his face into Reggie’s neck. 

“Thanks, Reg,” Luke murmured in his skin. Reggie hummed, curling his fingers in the hair at the base of his skull. Reggie’s throat was soft under his lips, and Luke kissed it gently. Reggie’s breathing hitched and Luke kissed him again, then found himself mouthing his way up to Reggie’s ear, scraping his teeth against the thin skin behind it. Reggie moaned quietly, his arms tightening around Luke, pulling him impossibly closer. Luke sucked a tiny hickie below his ear and Reggie squirmed against him, his fingers digging into Luke’s back. 

“Luke,” he breathed, and Luke pulled back to look at Reggie’s face. He was flushed and smiling, and Luke was a little overwhelmed by how that made him feel. He kissed Reggie, harder than he’d intended, but Reggie just sighed into his mouth and kissed him back sweetly. 

“So, uh, about Willie.” Luke fiddled with Reggie’s necklace to avoid looking him in the eye.

Reggie snorted. “I was wondering when you’d bring that up again.” Luke tugged on his necklace vengefully and Reggie winced. 

“I don’t know how I was supposed to forget about it when Willie kept staring at us all night.” Luke pointed out.

“He did?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t really get into the movie, I was too distracted,” he laughed and kissed Reggie again, nipping lightly at his lower lip, a pale imitation of what he’d thought about the night before. Reggie made another noise that Luke felt down to his toes. He leaned back on his elbow to remove temptation. 

“Also, I…” He bit his lip. “I don’t know how to say this so I’ll just blurt it out and then we can forget I ever said anything.”

Reggie rubbed at Luke’s back supportively and Luke drew in a deep breath.

“I don’t know how to deal with my feelings about Alex. I know we’ve been over for a long time, but I still like him. I mean, I’ve always loved him but I thought that it was just as friends, because I didn’t want to mess that up on top of all the crap we dealt with when we were alive. Back then I thought we should break up because I wasn’t sure that being together was the best thing for either of us. I didn’t want to hurt him… and I guess I didn’t want to get hurt either and it seemed to be the easiest way to prevent that from happening. But I still think about it, and him, and I know that it just complicates everything and I should just be content with you and Julie… and I am! I swear I am, I just…”

Reggie stayed silent for a moment. “We really are a mess, aren’t we?” Luke looked at him for the first time since he’d started talking. Reggie was watching him, eyes bright and clear. “I was so jealous when you and Alex got together, and I didn’t know how to deal with it, or even what I was really feeling. I’d known I liked you for a while before that, but seeing you two together… well. I thought I was just jealous of Alex getting to be with you, but it was more than that. But I... I knew I had even less of a chance with him than with you.”

Luke frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Come on, we both know he thinks I’m an idiot. He just puts up with me because he has to. Because you and I were friends first, and to be friends with you meant he had to be friends with me.” 

Luke shook his head. “Man, sometimes I really don’t get you. We’ve been friends for 10 years and still you manage to completely surprise me with how dense you can be." He combed his fingers through Reggie's hair to take the sting out of the words. "Alex loves you as much as I do, dude. Sure, he's sarcastic and likes to tease you, but it's out of affection, not hate. Don't you remember when he started lending you that flannel because he knew it comforted you when your parent's fighting got bad? In the end he just stopped taking it back because you would wear it all the time."

"I'd forgotten about that," Reggie said, lifting his hand to play with the cuff of the flannel. 

"Yeah, I thought so. You should know by now that Alex shows his love a bit differently from us. He doesn't like to say it exactly, and he's not one to initiate most touch… Look, I think we should just go and talk to Alex about this. Maybe he can explain it better than I can. Maybe he can convince you he doesn't just put up with you."

"He was in the garage with Willie earlier, but I don't want to talk about this in front of Willie." Reggie pressed his face into Julie's comforter. 

"I'll go check if they're still there." Luke extracted himself from Reggie's embrace and disappeared. Reggie fiddled with his flannel while he waited, remembering Alex’s face when he’d first given the shirt to Reggie. It had become such a staple of his wardrobe he’d completely forgotten that it wasn’t his to begin with. 

“Come on, Alex is alone in the garage.” Luke grabbed Reggie’s hands and pulled him off the bed, teleporting them into the garage. Reggie stumbled against him as they landed, and Luke steadied him, before leading him over to where Alex was tapping idly at his drums. 

For all that Reggie was the loudest and most talkative of them, he sure could clam up when it was inconvenient. 

Luke sighed. “Alex, Reggie has some things he wants to ask you but he’s pretty worried so I guess I’ll start.” 

Alex stared at them, twirling his drumsticks in his fingers. Luke recognised it as the nervous habit it was. 

“Julie kind of mentioned it the other night, but since it was mainly me being the idiot then, I think you didn’t realise part of it was directed at you. Reggie still thinks that you don’t actually like him, after all this time. He thinks you only put up with him because of me.”

Alex blinked rapidly, his mouth opening and closing. “ _What_?”

“But you do like him, don’t you?” Luke said pointedly.

“I - of course I do. What the hell, Reggie? You just thought all this time, after all the things we’ve been through… that I was just _putting up with you_? You and Luke are my closest friends, practically my family.”

Reggie mumbled something, but it was too low for even Luke to hear. 

“Hey, come on. We said we were going to work this out. We can’t do that if you can’t even talk to him.”

“I can’t,” Reggie said in a pained whisper. “Family, he said.” He pressed his face into Luke’s shoulder. 

Luke stroked his soft hair, pushing it back from his face. “ _Practically_ family,” he said quietly. “Can’t fix it if you don’t say anything.”

Reggie didn’t move his face from Luke’s shoulder as he started talking. “You always… I annoy you. I’m annoying, I know. Too slow and dumb, and I miss the point. I talk too much and I move around too much and I’m just… too much.”

Alex stood up slowly and stepped closer. “Reg…” his voice made Luke’s chest go tight. “You don’t annoy me. You make me laugh, all the time. You’re so funny and optimistic, even when everything is terrible. You make me feel safe and wanted. I had no idea I made you feel the opposite. I never realised that you took my words so harshly, instead of as teasing. I mean, I guess sometimes it’s a little frustrating when you completely miss the point but it’s not bad. You make everything more interesting.” He spread his arms out, tilting his head to indicate that he wanted a hug if Reggie did. Reggie stepped into his arms, and Alex wrapped him up carefully, drawing him in close. “You don’t even know how much you mean to me, do you?”

Luke watched Reggie’s shoulders lower on a heaved sigh as he relaxed into Alex’s arms, shaking his head slightly. Alex stroked a hand down his back and squeezed him gently.

“I care about you so much. I - I don’t even know how to tell you. You and Luke have always been there for me, even in death. I’ll do better. I love you, dude.” Alex’s voice cracked slightly.

Reggie squeezed him and pulled back, looking over at Luke. 

“And what have _you_ guys been doing?” Alex asked, his eyes on Reggie’s neck. Luke realised he was looking at the hickie Luke had given him earlier. 

"Uuuuuhhhh.” Reggie and Luke looked at each other, their voices too high. “Nothing?"

“Not much, just hanging out. Reggie was comforting me after I visited my parents.” Luke tried to sound casual rather than deliberately evasive.

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Comforting. Uh huh.” Reggie blushed and touched the mark. Luke watched Alex follow the movement, then look away. 

“But, uh. I guess that kind of brings us to the other part of this conversation,” Luke said reluctantly.

“There’s more? What, you think I secretly hate you too?”

“No-o,” Luke said slowly. He took a deep breath and decided to go for it, like he’d done when he’d told Reggie in Julie’s bedroom. “Kind of the opposite, really. I mean, me and Reggie were talking earlier about, uh, Willie and you and um. Webothrealisedwereallylikeyouandwejustwantedtotellyoubecausewedon’tlikesecrets?” Luke finished in a rush, out of breath.

“What he means to say is that he never got over you when you guys broke up,” Reggie said dryly.

“And that Reggie has had a crush on you for ages even though he thought you _hated him_.” Luke chimed in vengefully. 

“ _What_?” Alex looked a little bit like he was going to pass out. Luke reached out to grab his arm in case he really was about to faint, and Alex jerked out of reach, hands shaking as he pushed his hair out of his face. Luke let his hand fall along with what felt like all of his internal organs, wishing he could take the words back. Now Alex was going to really freak out and hate them, because they were messing everything up. Why couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut?

“Alex,” Reggie started, holding out a hand. Alex looked at it like it was a snake about to strike. “We’re sorry to dump this on you when things have already been so crazy but we didn’t want to hide it-”

“Is this some kind of joke?” Alex bit out.

“What - no! This is not something we would ever joke about.”

“I can’t… I can’t.” Alex’s breathing was going ragged, his face paling to a sickly colour. He looked wildly at Reggie and Luke and suddenly he was gone.

Luke swore and kicked at the floor.

***

Alex dropped in next to Willie, clearly in the middle of a panic attack. Willie reached for him, but stopped before touching him.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

Alex’s breath caught on a sob and he covered his face with his hands. His shoulders were shaking and he looked so scared Willie ached to hold him. 

“...It’s too much, it’s too much,” Alex mumbled, starting to pace. 

“Come here,” Willie said softly. “Come on, sit beside me and breathe with me.” He guided Alex down beside him and pressed their shoulders together, concentrating on making his breathing even. Alex shuddered and drew in a noisy breath, then another, slowly syncing up with Willie’s. “What happened?”

“Luke and Reggie… they… They said they…” Alex hiccuped and stopped. Willie put his arm around Alex’s shoulders and held him tight. “They said they like me.”

Willie tried not to react, though inside he was jumping up and down and yelling. “O-kay. So why are you having a panic attack?”

“I don’t… i don’t know. Why did they _say_ that?”

Willie took a moment. “Because it’s true?”

“But why now? They just got together with Julie, just finally admitted to the feelings they have for each other.”

“And maybe that let them face other feelings they have, let them admit it to themselves. I don’t want to say I told you so… but uh, I told you so?”

Alex laughed wetly and slipped his arm around Willie’s waist. 

“You know the dumbest thing? Reggie thought I hated him. Thought this whole time that I’ve just been tolerating him because of Luke.”

“ _What_?” Willie smacked his own forehead. “I can’t believe I’ve met the dumbest band in the history of the world. There has to be some kind of prize for that.”

Alex laughed again, easier this time. “I don’t want your head to get any bigger than it already is, but you were right. I’ve always kind of pushed Reggie aside rather than deal with any feelings I might have had for him. Just put him in a little friend shaped box so everything would be easier. I didn’t even stay to see him and Luke kiss the other day, because that would have been way too hard. Not that I let myself think about it like that of course.” Alex rambled, but Willie could see him sorting it all out in his head. 

“So, now that you agree that you’re all hopelessly in love with each other, does that mean I get to kiss Luke?”

Alex spluttered, then started laughing, way too hard. 

“They didn’t say anything about _you_ , idiot.” Alex smacked him on the arm, altogether too gently. 

Willie wriggled his eyebrows. “You didn’t see the way he was looking at me. Just remember that I’m not as dense as your little boyband.”

“Hey!”

***

When Julie walked into the garage, Luke didn’t even see her at first. He was pacing up and down the room, twisting his hands in the hem of his shirt.

“What’s happened now?” Julie asked, exasperated. Luke paused in his pacing and shoved his hair back with frantic hands.

‘We might have messed everything up again.”

“What did you do?”

“We told Alex that we like him.”

“Oh, that.” Julie waved her hand dismissively. “So why are you so freaked out?”

“Because Alex freaked out! He started having a panic attack and then just left!”

“Wait, you’re not upset we told Alex we like him?” Reggie asked. Julie looked at him.

“You guys are about as subtle as a cargo train, so no. It’s not like my life isn’t weird enough as it is. This might as well happen.” Julie shrugged. “I knew it was coming as soon as we met Willie.”

“You did _not_ ,” Luke said.

“Luke, you should see your face every time you look at Alex. Like he hung the moon and stars or some romantic crap like that.”

“She’s right.” Reggie nodded. Luke narrowed his eyes at Reggie and hissed.

“You’re not much better, Reggie. At first I thought it was just because you guys were just really close, but it’s pretty obvious that’s not just it.” 

Reggie blushed and then shrugged. 

“And considering Reggie still thought Alex hated him up until today, it’s lucky I said something so we could convince him he was wrong.”

“Oh, Reg,” Julie shook her head. “I told you the other day that they both love you. You really should have just listened to me.”

“Sometimes people say they love you but show you something very different,” Reggie said quietly. Luke and Julie moved at the same time, gathering Reggie in their arms. At some point they were going to have to talk about Reggie’s family and all the damage they’d done to him. 

“I really don’t want to do this.” Alex’s voice broke the silence.

“Tough,” Willie answered, as they walked into the garage. Willie was holding Alex’s wrist tightly, towing him along. 

“Hey guys!” Alex chirped brightly, avoiding their faces. Willie rolled his eyes.

“Alex, thank god.” Luke stepped away from Reggie and Julie, toward Alex. “Why did you leave like that?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Willie replied. Alex gave him a wounded look. 

“You should be nicer to me. It’s not like I really need you anymore.” Alex shot back. Willie scoffed.

“Alex is sorry he ran away, he didn’t know how to deal with all of his feelings. He -”

“Willie just wants this fixed so he can kiss Luke,” Alex interrupted. Julie giggled.

“Oh good, maybe then Luke’ll stop talking about it all the time.” Reggie said.

“Reggie!”

Willie grinned at them all, squeezing Alex’s wrist before sliding his hand down to twine his fingers with Alex’s. “You guys are the strangest people I’ve ever met. But in a good way.”

“Yeah, you get used to it,” Julie said.

“So? Are you guys going to kiss now?” Reggie asked.

“This is kinda weird,” Luke said as Willie moved closer to him. Willie looked around at the other three, who were all staring with bright-eyed attention. 

“Yeah, a bit.” He reached up and tucked a curl behind Luke’s ear. Luke smiled and returned the gesture, twirling a piece of Willie’s hair in his fingers. Willie tilted in closer and Luke’s world narrowed down to him, his soft brown eyes and perfect cheekbones, mouth curved in a mischievous smile. Luke dropped the strand of hair to slide his hand around Willie’s neck, steadying himself with the touch. Willie’s lips parted slightly and Luke kind of fell into him, like he was magnetised to Willie’s mouth. They kissed softly for a moment and Luke’s other hand rose to cradle Willie’s face, as Willie’s hands settled on his hips. Their noses bumped together so Luke tilted Willie’s head to the side with a thumb pressed to his jaw, and Willie’s lips parting on a sigh. Then Luke lost all his senses other than the feeling of Willie’s mouth on his, Willie’s teeth scraping against his bottom lip, their tongues meeting and sliding against each other. 

“Um, ok.” Reggie said, cheeks deeply pink. Alex and Julie just stood there wide-eyed.

Luke pressed a last, closed mouth kiss to Willie’s lips and let his hands fall from Willie’s face. Willie smiled at him and stepped back to grab Alex’s hand again. 

Julie cleared her throat. “Ok, how about we put on a movie and you guys can all make out without the rest of us staring.”

Willie grinned. “Can I kiss you, too? Alex is apparently “too gay” for that, but I’m not.”

Julie flushed, but a smile curved her lips. “Uh, ok.” 

Willie walked over to her and bent his head to whisper in her ear. She giggled and slapped him playfully, looking over at Alex. 

They all piled onto the couch as Julie set up the movie, and Luke shifted over so she could fit between him and Willie. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and let his fingers curl in Willie’s hair. Willie smiled at him and beside him Alex and Reggie leaned into each other, speaking softly. After a moment, Alex turned his head and kissed Reggie tentatively, and in classic Reggie style, he surged up against him, fisting his hand in Alex’s hair and kissed him passionately. It was interesting, watching Reggie kiss someone else, other than Julie. He was different with Alex, a little more forceful, direct. Luke wished he was closer, so he could kiss each of them as they separated. 

He couldn’t ignore the voice inside him that said it should be him kissing Alex. That after everything they’d been through, all the time they’d wasted, he should have been the first of them to kiss him. But it wasn’t truly important, what mattered was that they’d figured it out and he could kiss Alex any time he wanted, now.

***

“So I go on a short trip with my parents and in that time you manage to get yourself two boyfriends and… wait where do Willie and Alex fit into this?” Flynn threw her hands in the air. “And you didn’t text or call me about this because?”

Julie blushed. “Um, it just kind of happened. I thought it might be better to talk about it in person. But I regret that now.”

“I noticed you didn’t say anything about Willie and Alex.”

“I don’t know. Alex has been in love with Luke and Reggie for forever so they’re all making out now. And Willie just likes everyone.”

“Everyone?” Flynn raised her eyebrows.

Julie blushed and didn’t say anything.

“So you can touch them now… do you think I would be able to see them?”

“I have no idea. I guess we could see. _If_ you can control yourself.”

Flynn made a face and Julie laughed. They walked down to the garage and slipped inside. 

“Ok, that’s enough, Flynn’s here.” she clapped her hands, and Luke and Alex jumped apart. Reggie and Willie were sitting nearby just watching, holding hands. She looked at Flynn and Flynn looked disappointed. 

“I guess not,” She said glumly. Julie walked over to the boys and touched Luke and Reggie’s shoulders. Flynn gasped and stared.

“Is that Willie?” She pointed right at him, he was still holding Reggie’s hand and Julie supposed that was why he could also be seen by Flynn. Julie let out a relieved laugh.

“It is. Willie, this is Flynn, my best friend in the whole world.”

“What’s up?” Willie grinned. 

“Why are all the ghosts you’ve met so hot?” Flynn complained. Julie couldn’t stop the relieved laughter from bubbling out of her, and soon they were all laughing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [Tumblr](https://merihn.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to come chat.


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